Good Morning Friends,
Today’s reading suggests to us that, before Christ, the laws required the regular sacrificing of animals to atone for our sins. It all seems rather foreign to us today and frankly how this was practiced 2000 years ago I doubt was pleasing to God even way back then. And I think this was so because the practice, though obedient to the law, had become more of a ritual and as a result failed in a spiritual sense to really cleanse the minds of the sinner. If the sacrifice had meant total forgiveness and cleansing, it should have resulted in a change in lifestyle and behavior. But that was not happening. Now we might say the same thing about the sacrifice of Jesus, for we still have free will to reject even that which is good for us. But there is a fundamental difference here that we must understand. God the Father would never be pleased with any ritual that did not realize at least the potential of our sanctification. And animal sacrifice only gave a shadow of the potential to come. That is why God provided, in the great mystery of it all, His son Jesus to exact for us a new covenant. Now for carrying this plan out, people, even his own family, thought Jesus crazy. If we had been there, we might have come to the same conclusion for few today grasp the potential of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross in turning around the thinking of humans to a new way. And so today we contemplate a reboot of sorts and a clearing of our memory, so we might understand properly even as we ask. Can We Unlearn The Things That Keep Us From God’s Peace?
Scripture: Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:1-10 (NRSV)
Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:31-35 (NRSV)
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
Mark 6:30-34 (NRSV)
It was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19 (NRSV)
Message: Friends, we have much to unlearn about our bias toward others and the ritual habits that have become part of our behavior that no longer or perhaps never did really serve a divine purpose. Part of our spiritual training in this regard has been neglected. Some of the teaching we have received is inadequate, and we need the Holy Spirit to draw out of us what has been badly taught even by those closest to us. You see, the most difficult part of spiritual training is not to put the right thing into a person but to get the wrong thing out of them. And here is the rub. When the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, God must be embarrassed for us, and therefor convicts us, for we think we know so much already of what it would be well to leave unknown for it is unknowable. We are a self-conceited lot. We are puffed up. We have learned lessons of worldly wisdom and carnal policy, and these we need to unlearn and deny before we can be fit to be called children of God. And so, I am writing about this because today’s readings magnify the will of God and the mission of His only Son on the cross in this regard. That Jesus came into the world, from the very beginning of time to die for our sins and be resurrected is difficult to fathom. The magnitude of this event’s depth and breathe should blow our minds to embrace a new path to holiness instead of the lies we have been holding on to. It all comes down to this…. Jesus was born to die so that we might be sanctified. He abolished the first covenant so that a second covenant of love could be established. But the religious leaders and even Jesus’ own relatives had been carefully taught to hate and fear anyone who would change the balance of power and alter the laws. It had been drummed into their heads. So, think for a moment what you have been taught. Maybe you and I need to rethink our desire for riches and our view of community and who we consider family and who we rejected and accept and how we serve in healing and bringing wholeness and love to others. This I believe is what God is calling us to be and do. So, we must let go of the past and its bad habits so that we can move into the future where love rule. The world may even call us crazy for this but if we are privileged to serve and are called to this purpose of renewing our minds then it is the sanest action we can take if we are willing to risk.
And So, some people and certainly the devil is a kill joy and despises us when we experience true freedom…true peace…true love. The beauty is that God can be our peace in the middle of disaster, flood, loss of loved ones and even in our everyday challenges when malice wells up inside us. The amazing thing is that we can learn to live in peace with ourselves and others no matter what struggles and difficulties we face.
But first we must make peace with God.
We can do our happy dance like David and still seek righteousness. Sure, others might want us to get angry or feel ashamed, so we look our self in the mirror. We can change the things we can. We can invite. Welcome. We can include. We can fight suffering, injustice, prejudice, inequality and discrimination. We can stand up for justice in the marketplaces of the world. We can help take care of others. But the real starting place is finding inward peace with one’s self once we have made peace with God. And part of that is finding a peace in praising God with a God given dignity that comforts and confronts others with a purpose that glorifies God. Until we have this inward peace fueled by the Holy Spirit, we will never have long term spiritual and emotional health. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to do something unusual. He tells them to chill out and take a rest…. And as it turns out, the day becomes a busy time of joy more so than what we might consider a peaceful picnic. But such is the journey with Jesus. No one could deny that Jesus was different. The words He spoke rang true and upset His opponents. His enemies, the Jewish leaders of the day, tried to trip Him up and discredit Him by showing He was a lawbreaker, but none of it stuck. What we make of this man who says and does such outlandish things as healing the poor makes all the difference. Either we are attracted to Him, or we are repulsed by Jesus thinking him as crazy or possessed. But for me, Jesus, like David in today’s text, would have been one fun guy to be around, if you could keep up with him. He really gets immersed in what he does and seems to have such a natural freedom. He loses all sense of self-consciousness. Of course, not everyone likes this in another person, and some hate it. Jesus alerted us to the possibility that people would hate some of the things we do as Christians. However, with the help of Jesus, we can take steps to establish a peace within that overflows in the busyness of life. We can share a meal together as a witness to the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We can find rest in the unity of Christ being both all human and all divine. If we are truly in Christ and Christ is in us we must let go of the past so that we can move into the future reborn in a love that lasts and a peace that passes understanding.
Pray we realize that God has placed the resources within our reach for our success in unlearning as well as learning. Pray we find peace with ourselves. Pray we find outward peace with others. Pray we realize that peacemakers are promise keepers and purpose fulfillers. Pray we realize that to be peaceful is to be purposeful. Pray we find rest in a belief in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Pray even in our active praise of God that our spirit and soul reflect an inward place of calm, quiet and rest. Pray we have a mental space where we ignore all outside interruptions. Pray we clear our minds of all anxiety so we might not only find peace and purpose, but help others become peacemakers…children of God. Pray we beseech God’s blessings and help in honoring God by the way we live. Pray we embrace the opportunities given us to love and to serve each other. Pray we realize that we do not always have to please other people. Pray we are not afraid to show our weakness. Pray we let go of what is no longer working. Pray we realize that we do not have to postpone joy. Pray we realize that fitting in does not always help in belonging to something valuable. Pray we make peace with God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 
Good morning Brother John, always good to start the day with a meaningful discussion. Today, I would like to challenge at least 2 of the things you offer. I suspect you will say it is my bias showing… and perhaps it is. But I would like to think my “opposition” is based on Scripture.
First of all… you offer a comment that many Christians accept without thinking… “He abolished the first covenant so that a second covenant of love could be established.” In point of fact, Jesus did no such thing, and did not want others to think he had. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus makes it very clear that his coming, or his teachings, did not abolish the Law or the Prophets… his mission was to fulfill them. In other words, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus do not do away with the ideals of their ancestral relationship with God, but, in fact, offer a new way of understanding that gives us an opportunity to serve God in a more complete way.
Secondly… you suggest that Jesus might be a “fun” guy to be around because in his relationship with those around him… “He loses all sense of self-consciousness.” I believe it is just the opposite. Jesus is able to breathe new life into our covenant relationship with God precisely because he is so self aware of who he was… and why he was born into that place and time. His challenge to us is for us to be so self-conscious… to fully embrace the fact that we have been called to serve, not to expect others to serve us. He hopes that we will realize that we are who we are only because God has called us, chosen us, and given us the responsibility to be good stewards of His world.
In that message on the mountain, Jesus reveals that we are salt and light. This isn’t something we can try to be, it is what we are. The trick is learning how to be so aware of who we are that we can become useful to God and to the world. Too many of us are not self-conscious enough, we look in the mirror and do not know who that person is. But until we can accept and love that person we see, and accept that God loves that person looking at us unconditionally, we will never be able to offer others the love and acceptance that persons of salt and light can provide.
I must be off to help an old friend. Thanks for helping me start the day properly each morning.
hesed ve shalom,
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Abolish is perhaps a poor choice of words. It would be better to say that Jesus came to fulfill the old agreement through grace as he lived under the old covenant and followed it rules and regulations. He even taught from those rules but when Jesus on the cross said it was finished I think he is saying that those rules no longer are intended for us in the same way we might think. The new covenant actually sets an even higher standard of love. This is what the writer of Hebrews says:
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. God finds fault with them when he says: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of “a new covenant,” he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.
Hebrews 8:7 – 8:13 (NRSV)
As to the second point. I was thinking in reference to David dancing with joy and the idea of abiding in and with Christ. God already knows I am a mess. The old law shoves it in my face. Self conscious. Yes, but Jesus provides a better way that raises that consciousness to something better. What’s the point of it all if the love of Jesus doesn’t change us into something better?
Blessings,
Brother John
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